[CS-FSLUG] Re: Activist Republican Judge Says CA Marriage LawUnconstitutional

[Aaron Lehmann]

On Mon, Mar 21, 2005 at 07:36:38AM +0000, Andrew Minerd wrote:
> Aaron,
> 
> I believe you're contradicting yourself. Just quickly:
> 
> - You claim that government should be based upon "no divine law", yet
> you claim individuals have rights: a shamelessly "divine" theory
> stemming directly from the notion that man was created by God, in His
> image.

That is the origin of it as far as I'm concered, and this contradiction
is one reason why ultimately government is a bad thing, and should be
kept as small as possible to only necesary features.  The only good
government is the one run by God Himself in Heaven.

My reason for saying that is not to protect government from divine law,
but to protect divine law from government.  Whenever the government gets
ahold of new power, it never lets it go.  I see no reason to give it the
authority to interpret scripture.

> - You argue to protect the rights of the minority, however, in the
> same breath, you claim that the government is designed to cater
> torwards the majority's "demonstrable interest".

In terms of public safety, et cetera, yes.  Any government is an
infringement upon individual liberty, and thus is an evil.  However, in
this imperfect world, we occasionally have to opt for the lesser evil.

> - You warn that, should the government recognize God, it will dictate
> on His behalf, yet you allow the government to dictate what is good
> for the majority - at the cost of personal rights, mind you - as long
> as they have a study backing it up.

I'd hope they have multiple studies, repeated in triplicate by different
uninterested researchers before they do anything.  I'd also want them
to be willing to reverse their decisions upon evidence refuting said
studies coming to light, and being similarly verified.  Note the ammount
of labout and dispute I want to be involved before my government does
ANYTHING.  I'm a huge fan of my government wasting time.  I'd rather
they be paid to do nothing than be paid to do something, since anything
they do will curtail my choices in life further.  The only reason they
need to be paid, is because if they wandered away, we'd end up with
someone else in charge, and this evil is somewhat predictable.

> Well, that's it for this outburst. :-)

I appreciate it.  The outburst, not the end of it.

Aaron Lehmann